Council begins study on potential Mount Morgan rail trail

The 25km track would finish at Kabra or Gracemere.

Jake Keleher on one of the First Turkey Mountain Bike Trails. Photo Allan Reinikka / The Morning Bulletin

A rail trail from Mount Morgan could be in the pipeline as Rockhampton Regional Council formally begins works on the potential project.

Council put a tender out last month for a feasibility study “investigating a shared use pathway along the former vacant rail corridor”.

The rail trail is proposed to begin at the existing Mount Morgan train station on Railway Pde and has two potential finishes at Kabra or Gracemere.

The original rail line was built from Kabra to Moonmera at the bottom of the range, then up the range to Moongan and onto Mount Morgan.

The first section from Kabra to Moonmera was opened in 1898 and the second section from Moonmera to Mount Morgan was opened six months later.

The rail line has been decommissioned and removed.

The tender documents state the proposed 25.4km rail trail would provide a recreational route for cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians, and would create tourism and recreation benefits.

There would be various stages for different journey lengths.

Draft stages of the Mount Morgan rail trail.

Study area stages:

A. Railways Pde, Mount Morgan to Moongan Railway Siding, opposite Leyden’s Hills Rd.

B. Moongan Railway Siding to Hume Rd, Kabra

C. Hume Rd, Kabra, to Morgan St, Kabra OR

D. Hume Rd, Kabra to Cherryfield Rd, Gracemere

Stage A has provisions for connections to the Mount Morgan CBD and No. 7 Dam.

Stages C and D have different endings in the Kabra township or the urban area of Gracemere. The end point in Gracemere urban area can follow on to the town centre and use existing infrastructure or construct a new path.

The aim of the feasibility study is to determine if there is a viable route, if it is a quality route, if there is a market, if key shakeholders and the community are supportive and if it will deliver value for money.

The study would also need to estimate the project development costs, including structures along the route.

The successful tenderer would need to adhere to bicycle rail trail standards.

The tender closes on January 29.